A prewar Alfa Romeo racer sells for $9.4 million — a record for Alfas.

It’s been quite a year for breaking records at classic car auctions. In July, Bonhams sold a 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196R Formula One racer, once campaigned by world champion Juan Manuel Fangio, for $29.6 million, said to be the highest price paid for any car at auction. The seller was reported to be the Emir of Qatar.

One month later, a 1967 Ferrari 275GTB/4 NART (North American Racing Team) Spyder sold at RM Auctions’ Monterey Motor Week event for $27.5 million. It was, after all, one of only 10 such cars built.

Despite the glitter and TV sparkle of big-deal public auto auctions, the bulk of collector car buying and selling goes on behind closed doors in private transactions. And sometimes those cars sell for even more than auction records. Last year, for example, collector Craig McCaw (think McCaw Cellular, which AT&T bought for more than $11 billion 20 years ago) was reported to have paid $35 million for a green 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO made specially for famed British racer Stirling Moss (Sir Stirling Moss to you). Ferrari only made 39 of the cars. In the rare occasions when they trade hands, they’re up in the tens of millions of dollars.